A. If you have any questions about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Annual Report, contact Noelle Frangipane, FOIA Officer, at 202-692-

2103.

B. To find this report on the World Wide Web, you may find it at

http://www.peacecorps.gov/policies/foia.cfm

C. You may obtain a copy of the report in paper form by writing to:

Peace Corps

FOIA Officer

1111 20

th

St., NW

Washington, DC 20526

II.

How to Make a FOIA Reque st:

Peace Corps FOIA request procedures are located in the FOIA Reference Guide,

which is electronically linked to our World Wide Web Site:

http://www.peacecorps.gov

A. FOIA Requests are received in the Office of:

Peace Corps

FOIA Officer

1111 20

th

St., NW

Washington, DC 20526

B. Peace Corps response time ranges from two days to ten or more days.

C. Some requests cannot be granted because the records have been destroyed

pursuant to Records Management policies, or destroyed at the Federal

Records Center.

III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms

A. Agency specific acronyms or other terms. N/A

B. Basic terms, expressed in common terminology.

1. FOIA/PA Request – Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act

request. A FOIA request is generally a request for access to

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records concerning a third party, an organization, or a particular

topic of interest. A Privacy Act (PA) request is a request for

records concerning oneself; such requests are also treated as

FOIA requests. (All requests for access to records, regardless of

which law is cited by the requester, are included in this report.)

2. Initial Request – a request to a federal agency for access to

records under the Freedom of Information Act.

3. Appeal – a request to a federal agency asking that it review at a

higher administrative level a full denial or partial denial of access

to records under the Freedom of Information Act, or any other

FOIA determination such as a matter pertaining to fees.

4. Processed Request or Appeal – a request or appeal for which an

agency has taken a final action on the request or the appeal in all

respects.

5. Multi-track processing – a system in which simple requests

requiring relatively minimal review are placed in one processing

track and more voluminous and complex requests are placed in

one or more other tracks. Requests in each track are processed

on a first-in/first out basis. A requester who has an urgent need

for records may request expedited processing (see below).

6. Expedited processing – an agency will process a FOIA request

on a expedited basis when a requester has shown an exceptional

need or urgency for the records which warrants prioritization of

his or her request over other requests that were made earlier.

7. Simple request – a FOIA request that an agency using multi-

track processing places in its fastest (nonexpedited) track based

on the volume and/or simplicity of records requested.

8. Complex request – a OFIA request that an agency using multi-

track processing places in a slower track based on the volume

and/or complexity of records requested.

9. Grant – an agency decision to disclose all records in full in

response to a FOIA request.

10. Partial grant – an agency decision to disclose a record in part in

response to a OFIA request, deleting information determined to

be exempt under one or more of the FOIA’s exemptions; or a

decision to disclose some records in their entireties, but to

withhold others in whole or in part.

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11. Denial – an agency decision not to release any part of a record or

records in response to a OFIA request because all the

information in the requested records is determined by the agency

to be exempt under one or more of the FOIA’s exemptions, or for

some procedural reason (such as because no record is located in

response to a FOIA request).

12. Time limits – the time period in the Freedom of Information Act

for an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily 20

working days from proper receipt of a “perfected” FOIA

request).

13. “Perfected” request – a FOIA request for records which

adequately describes the records sought, which has been received

by the FOIA office of the agency or agency component in

possession of the records, and for which there is no remaining

question about the payment of applicable fees.

14. Exemption 3 statute – a separate federal statute prohibiting the

disclosure of a certain type of information and

15. Median number – the middle, not average, number. For

example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.

16. Average number – the number obtained by dividing the sum

group of numbers by the quantity of numbers in the group. For

example, of 3, 7, and 14, the average number is 8.

IV.

Exemption 3 Statutes

A. List of Exemption 3 statues relied on by the agency during the current

fiscal year. NONE

1. Brief description of type of information withheld under each

statue: N/A

2. Statement of whether a court has upheld a use of each statute. If

so, then cit example: N/A

V.

Initial FOIA/PA Requests

A. Number of Initial Requests

Page 4

1. Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year =

11

2. Number of requests received during the current fiscal year =

7287

3. Number of requests processed during current fiscal year = 6908

4. Number of requests pending as of end of fiscal year = 390

B. Disposition of initial requests

1. Number of total grants = 6879

2. Number of partial grants = 2

3. Number of denials = 3

a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used:

1. Exemption 1 = 0

2. Exemption 2 = 0

3. Exemption 3 = 0

4. Exemption 4 = 1

5. Exemption 5 = 0

6. Exemption 6 = 2

7. Exemption 7a = 0

8. Exemption 7b= 0

9. Exemption 7c = 0

10. Exemption 7d = 0

11. Exemption 7e = 0

12. Exemption 7f = 0

13. Exemption 8 = 0

14. Exemption 9 = 0

4. Other reasons for nondisclosure: 24

a. no records = 17

b. referrals= 1

c. request withdrawn = 1

d. fee-related reason = 0

e. records not reasonably described = 0

Page 5

f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason = 0

g. not an agency record = 0

h. duplicate request = 0

i. other (specify) = 1 (PA) file lost & 4 PA records were

denied under PA Exemption (5) for confidentiality

protection on references.

VI.

Appeals of Initial Denials to FOIA/PA Requests

A. Number of appeals:

1. Number of appeals received during the fiscal year = 0

2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year = N/A

B. Disposition of appeals:

1. Number completely upheld = N/A

2. Number partially reversed = N/A

3. Number completely reversed = N/A

a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used = N/A

4. Other reasons for nondisclosure = N/A

VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests

A. Median processing time for requests processed during the year

1. Simple requests

a. number of requests processed = 6908

b. median number of days to process = 12

2. Complex requests = N/A

3. Requests accorded expedited processing

a. Number of requests processed = 0

Page 6

b. Median number of days to process = N/A

B. Status of pending requests

1. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year =

390

2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of

end of current fiscal year = 150

VIII. Comparisons with Previous Years (optional)

For FY 2001 **

A. Comparison of number of requests received = N/A

B. Comparison of number of requests processed = N/A

C. Comparison of median number of days requests were pending as of end of

fiscal year = N/A

D. Other statistics significant to the agency = 0 Requests Received for

Expedited Processing

** Numbers for FY 2002 were significantly higher due to improved Privacy

Act recordkeeping procedures.

IX.

Costs/FOIA Staffing

A. Staffing levels

1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel = 1

2. Number of personnel with part-time or partial FOIA duties = 1.2

3. Total number of personnel (in work-years) = 2.2

B. Total Costs

1. FOIA processing = $74,246.76

2. Litigation-related activities = $2,000.00 (estimated)

Page 7

3. Total Costs = $76,246.76

4. Comparison with previous year (FY 2001) = N/A

X.

Fees

A. Total Amount collected by agency for processing requests = $0.00

B. Percentage of total costs = N/A

XI.

FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule)

Please consult the federal regulations regarding FOIA at the following website:

http://www.usdoj.gov/04foia/04_1_1.html

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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; FOIA; Freedom of Information; Journalism; Investigative Journalism; Speaking Out

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